How To Write an Interview Winning CV

Writing a CV that rocks is not an art. It just requires some planning and an understanding of what you want your CV to achieve for you.

Of course therein also lies the problem because of lot folks are not exactly sure what they want their CV to do for them. This is why you will often see resumes that have every single technology feature a candidate has ever encountered listed, or why the hiring manager is reading a CV that is eight pages long and wondering when the pain of this monstrosity will all be over. The truth of course is the hiring manager never even read it and instead simply moved immediately on to the next resume without giving it a further thought.

Do you want your CV to be one that gets overlooked? Of course not!

I’m going to share with you exactly what you need to do in order to create an interview winning CV for a Database Administrator (DBA), Data Professional or any other darn profession you can think of for that matter! What prompted such an awesome display of generosity you ask? Well there is a story behind it (alluded to here) that you can ask me about next time we meet but for now let’s just pretend it’s because I’m a super nice chap.

Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of KISS. Not the awesome rock band but rather the principle of Keep It Simple Stupid! So for your reading pleasure I have compressed a wealth of winning resume writing knowledge into 4 simple rules. I know, impressive right.

In order to ensure that your CV gives you the best possible chance of securing your next interview it MUST be:

Readable

Relevant

Accurate

Valuable

Let’s take a look at each rule in a little more detail to find out exactly what is required.

1. Readable

Your CV should be a pleasure to read. It should be an effortless experience for the reader, enabling them to immediately zone in on precisely the information they seek. The language you use should be concise and to the point. You’ve got a limited amount of space to use in order to sell yourself and you want to do so within two pages. That’s right, your CV should be two pages maximum. Anything more and you are not being concise or relevant enough.

In summary some of the points you will want to consider are:

Scannable – Is your resume easy on the eye? Can the reader easily locate information?

Concise – Stay on point. Be specific and don’t waffle.

Incorporate bulleted lists – These will improve the structure of your content, making it scannable and easier to consume.

Consider font choice

Two page limit

2. Relevant

Include only what is relevant to the “specific” role you are targeting your CV for. It can be tempting to list each and every skill that you may have, you might be putting your resume forward for a number of different opportunities but if the skills are not relevant then they won’t demonstrate value(see 4.Value below) to the reader. The irony of a catch all resume is that it will actually get you nothing. It’s demonstrably lazy. Don’t do it!

In summary some of the points you will want to consider are:

Be specific – Include ONLY the information pertinent to the role.

Don’t include references – You’ll be asked for them if and when needed. Use the space for “valuable” content.

3. Accurate

The invention of the Spellchecker was a wonderful thing folks, so there really is no excuse for spelling mistakes or poor grammar. All good Data Professionals have excellent attention to detail, fail to get this one right and you’re pretty much just demonstrating that you don’t have what it takes.

4. Valuable

Why should I hire you? You know SQL Clustering, so what! Why is that of use to me as a business owner? Demonstrate the business value you have delivered because of what you know or have done. Simply listing technology and skills is boring. Take your CV to the next level by clearly showing the reader how you delivered value using what you know. Be factual in your delivery and mind you don’t take it to the other extreme or you’ll end up coming across as boastful. The emphasis required on demonstrable financial value for a Sales Director is going to be a lot more than is needed for BI Developer. You need to find the right balance for your market.

In summary some of the points you will want to consider are:

Expertise – Demonstrate your value through the results of your actions that were enabled by your skills.

Key Achievements – Make a point of highlighting your big wins and achievements. Deployed an entire DR solution protecting assets work £x million? Tell the reader.

Demonstrable value – Revenue, costs savings, business awareness. What makes you an asset to have on staff?

Passion – Show your love of technology(or chosen field) and for learning.

Keep It Simple

There you have it, four simple rules you should make sure your CV follows to give you the best possible chance of winning that next interview spot.

About John Sansom

I’m a Microsoft Certified Master(MCM) of SQL Server. I’ve been working with database technology in a variety of flavors for over fifteen years. I absolutely love what I do and genuinely feel privileged to be a part of our tremendous technology community. Got a question about SQL Server or being a DBA? Ask me!

Andy Paul

Thanks John, I’m finding your recent posts very useful since I’m looking for a Junior DBA job right now. Number 4 is a very good point (I implemented this which saved the company £x vs. here is a description of my job). Unfortunately it will require a re-write of a large chunk of my CV since I’ve done the job description thing really (doh!). Thanks for the great info; looking forward to your next post.

Writing a CV that demonstrates your value as a professional does indeed take some time and effort but then the payback of getting the job you want undoubtedly makes it all worthwhile.Best of luck with your job search sir and thanks for your comments!

Hey John, I like the two page max, but it may be a tough one unless you are a geek with like lot of experience. Speacially when dealing with non-technical recruiters, they might just say the other guy’s CV is better becasue it is long :) It might not even be sent to the client.

And, Sure people actually read your blog, lots of them actually. Not that you need reassuarnce though!

Fantastic news Samuel! That’s now two confirmed readers we have here then ;-)

I’m glad you highlighted my point of setting a two page maximum limit, I probably passed over the point too quickly.

I appreciate what you are saying my good sir. Considering a re-write of a CV to demonstrate value to the reader can be quite a mind shift at first. That’s a good thing of course! It means we’re thinking differently about writing a CV, which is what we want. As technical folks we are naturally logically minded and so tend to communicate our value in technical terms too. In doing so we end up communicating to the reader the ‘how’ of delivering value as opposed to ‘what’ that value actually is.

For those folks who don’t have a lot of previous technical experience to call upon, it need not be an issue. Value is not only demonstrable through our technical skills as Data Professionals. See my post 10 Character Traits of Outstanding DBAs for examples.

Expanding the point of target readership further, consider that the audience of a CV is quite likely to be a non-technical person, a hiring manager perhaps or a recruiter, rather than a fellow data professional. If technical content becomes too low level or does not demonstrate value then it will likely be lost on the reader. I like to advise folks to author their CV with their potential audience in mind and that it likely contains some variety. All readers should be able to understand and see the clear value communicated through a resume.

An excellent way to test the effectiveness of your CV at communicating your value is to give it to someone (who’s honest opinion you trust, you want constructive critic hence so your mum may not be a wise choice) who works in a completely different market to you. Sure they will not necessarily recognise direct references to technology specifics but your value should still be clear to them.

Phew! A longer than intended reply perhaps but you raised some excellent questions.

Thanks for your comments.

Perry

My cv is 3 pages long and I’ve never had a problem securing a contract. Incidentally CVs don’t win the interview. You could have the best cv but if you can’t impress face to face then you’re not likely to be offered the job

Nice and great article.The “KISS” magic :) I mean “Keep It Simple
Stupid” , really works as per my experience.Producing a simple CV with
our knowledge, is more than enough to get a new job.Great
article!!Enjoyed and Hats off to you .

I tend to forgo the traditional skills section in my CV. I prefer instead to list them in with my experience. I find this allows employers to see not just what tools/technology I’m familiar with but also how I’ve applied them to my work.

I would say that it’s a commonly accepted practice for Personal Information to be the very first content section on a resume. What follows however, I think depends on a combination of your own personal preference and any industry specific practices. With this in mind I don’t think there is a winning formula per say for content ordering. My advice, do prioritise by your biggest selling points. It should be easy for the reader to immediately see why you’re the right person for the position on offer.

I wonder what other readers think?

For interests sake, here’s the content order for my own latest resume:

I understand why it may seem that way at first however, if you feel there is too much information to get into two pages then perhaps there is! In other words you need to get more specific. Refining your own individual message and communicating your value is something that is unique to each person. It’s also because of this that I deliberately chose not to provide an example CV. The temptation to simply lift it and use as a template would be too great, thereby detracting from the posts message.

Thanks for the tips John. While I can manage to write a decent resume, I find it really hard to format it and make it look good. MS Word is just difficult to work with.Lately, I’ve been using http://cvmkr.com to format my resume. Thought I’d leave a tip for anyone who’d fine it useful.

Thank you for your very important info. I just saw your blog today and found it interesting. I am looking for a position in SQL DBA/Developer, as a new career I just developed. However, there is not any employment notice out there that takes some one with no experience. I believe there should have been some place where new professionals are put into the task and gain experience. It is just a ridiculous career. I did the Microsoft certification and I handle the stuff well. But it is frustrating that there is no way to get in without some years of experience. What is the understanding in the business about this? How can a beginner get opportunity to show his potential, develop his skills and excel?

Ehtsham Ul Hassan

i m student of computer science nd now i want to become a database junior administrator. how i can be,which languages and nd course i should do…..